


Outrage

by MizuLeKitten



Series: Means to Recover [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt, Hurt, Implied Sexual Content, Lack of Communication, M/M, Miscommunication, protective red lion (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 14:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11946531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizuLeKitten/pseuds/MizuLeKitten
Summary: Red did not understand their new paladin. He had been so happy, so loud, so cocky and self assured before. They hadn’t stop to think that any of it had been a show. Blue had spoken so proudly of their paladin after all, had boasted and bragged as much as he had.They didn’t know what to do. He wouldn’t let them in. He flat out ignored Red’s prodding. If anything he seemed to close the bond further every time Red tried to get in. There was nothing they could do.





	Outrage

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the other parts or else you might be confused.

Red did not understand their new paladin. He had been so happy, so loud, so cocky and self assured before. They hadn’t stop to think that any of it had been a show. Blue had spoken so proudly of their paladin after all, had boasted and bragged as much as he had.

Red knew that Blue and their paladin had been even closer than they had been with Keith, even if they had unlocked their second weaponry first. Of course the switch would hurt, but Red did not expect this.

At first they had been angry with their new paladin. How dare he think that he was better than Red, that he didn’t have to open up to Red like Keith had to Black when he left, how he had to Blue before him. How dare Red let him in only to not be given the same treatment.

That anger did not last long, not towards Lance anyways.

There was a pain there. A pain that bled through their strained bond. It reminded Red of her fiery cub’s pain when he had found himself different and the Altean one had scorned him, ignored him. Red did not understand.

Hadn’t that been fixed? Why would their new paladin be feeling this way? Did he not understand that this was only temporary? Did something happen with the other paladins’ that Red was not privy to?

They didn’t know what to do. He wouldn’t let them in. He flat out ignored Red’s prodding. If anything he seemed to close the bond further every time Red tried to get in. There was nothing they could do.

The idea hit Red later on, when they were resting. It was perfect at the time. Their new paladin was very tactile, very personal. They would show their paladin their materialized form, fitted to his own. Maybe the form would comfort their paladin, maybe they would begin to open up.

If only they knew how wrong they were.

The first time they showed their form to Lance was after a mission. They had wanted to congratulate him. The praise and human-esque form should make him be at ease, shouldn’t it? It would help them bond, as it had with Lance and Blue. Had they not bonded the same way?

Lance had turned, removing his helmet with a sigh when he was met with Red’s form. Red was as tall as him, wanting to look at him on a level field. They opened their mouth to praise him. The maneuver he had pulled _had_ been very impressive; they had thought only their fiery cub capable of such things.

Before they got a word out Lance was running away.

It happened again and again. Whenever Red would enter a room Lance would leave it. They did not understand. Was it not tiring to come up with excuse after excuse to leave the room suddenly? No one else could see Red after all, they had not permitted it. Why did he not let Red talk?

Red was never one for patience, much to Black’s chagin, and to their fiery cub’s enjoyment. It was the middle of a battle when Red appeared next. Their paladin would not be able to escape them, to run away, here.

“Paladin,” Red said, standing next to the pilot’s chair.

Their paladin screeched, startled, and Red winced, regret beginning to tinge at the back of their mind. Their paladin looked up at them wide eyed and Red felt panic slicing through their bond, the doors closing it being pushed open by a flood of fear.

“Paladin, why-” Red yowled, Lance copying with a scream as they were hit by a blast. They spun, his body practically a ragdoll as they were thrown about.

Red heard their fiery cub over the coms, watched his face pop up on the screen as he called to Lance, the other paladins joining.

“I’m fine,” their paladin’s voice shook, and he refused to look towards Red.

This was not what was supposed to happen. Red tried to speak up again, tried to ask if their paladin was okay. They had not meant for them to get hit, had not meant for pain and panic to flare. They wanted to understand, they wanted to be let it.

Lance ignored them. He focused on the battle. He focused on the controls that grew more and more blurry as he flew on. He focused on ignoring the pain in his skull and the presence next to him.

He didn’t focus on shutting Red out.

The memories washed over Red like a wave. A comforting presence whispering reassurances in the back of his mind. The exchanging of words, of stories, of times long ago, and times recently gone by. The first time Blue manifested in front of Lance. The small touches that grew and grew, bolder and bolder until it didn’t matter what the situation or time was.

Red was forced to watch as black joined blue and tan in a mass of limbs, watched as cold floors grew to nests of blankets, watched as they exchanged small stories, listening to Lance talk. Red witnessed Black’s paladin being brought into their nest for the first time, witnessed them fumble awkwardly, witnessed the way that they touched with a love and care that Red hadn’t witnessed in eons.

Then Black’s paladin was gone, leaving Lance alone. No lights enveloped Lance inside Black’s cockpit. They never appeared to comfort and to find comfort in their lover. The light came in the form of a pale, blue barrier that blocked Lance from Blue. There were no thoughts shared, no direction, no reassurance.

Red could only stare ahead as they replayed everything in their mind. They had wanted to understand after all, and now they did. They had been right in their assumption that Lance had bonded with Blue in this manifested form, but had not realized that that had fueled his pain. They had not realized that his hurt at seeing Red had come from the reminder of Blue.

What stung the most was the acceptance that Lance had. That he accepted that he was just a means to an end. That he accepted that he was not Red’s true paladin, and how he assumed that Blue was not his true lion. That he accepted that when Black’s paladin came back, he would no longer have a place on their team.

Red boiled with rage, the fire inside them burning hotter with every tick. Their attacks growing in ferocity and power. Their manifested form shook with barely concealed anger.

They did not let Lance feel even a small bit of it.

He did not deserve to feel Red’s rage. He did not deserve to be scared and frightened again. He did not deserve to be used so wrongfully, to not be informed and briefed on their plans. He did not deserve this pain.

Red instead forced all of their rage inwards, centering in on their connection to Black and Blue, their cub’s bond getting mixed up in the mess. They felt the others recoil, felt the shame filter through. No amount of shame would reverse the damage that had been done.

Keith did not know why he was suddenly angry. He did not know why he wanted to get away from Black in a fit of rage. He did not know why Black felt unstable and unsure.

Allura barely avoids a hit of her own at the sudden shift of Blue’s being. The way a deep sadness runs through Blue into herself. She wonders if it's something she did?

Red does not touch Lance, as much as they want to, as much as they want to place a comforting hand on their shoulder. Instead Red pours their heart and soul into their attacks, shrouding Lance’s mind from the pain he feels emotionally and physically as best as they can.

They are lucky they did not need Voltron because Red would not have let them form. Red would not allow Black or Blue anywhere near their cub’s mind ever again. They could not stop Black from interacting with their fiery cub, but they would protect their new one with all the fire of their soul.

They won the battle, but they could feel their cub failing, could feel him beginning to lose consciousness. Their connection was bared open now, Red could feel every shake and tremble of their cub’s body if they wanted to.

“I will never hurt you as they did. You are safe with me, my cub.”

Lance turned towards them eyes widened before rolling back, and slumping against the controls.

Red stepped back, calling out to their fiery cub. They watched as he ran in, spotting the other and diving into action. With one fluid movement he was carrying the other in his arms, running from their cockpit.

There was a probing at their mind as their manifestation melted away, back into their mechanical body. They snarled, letting out a flare of energy and pushed Black and Blue away. Thoughts whirled out as they didn’t bother to filter themselves. They would have to let go of their rage soon, but that did not mean they had to at this moment.

_How dare you! How dare you use him like that, hurt him like that! I thought you cared for your paladin, cared for him and loved him, yet you let him go on thinking like this? Let him think he is worthless, let him think he has no place besides being used!_

_Red, we didn’t-_

_I do not care what you did or didn’t intend! The damage has been done regardless of what your_ **_intentions_ ** _were! If you go anywhere near my cub, near either of my cubs, the battles we fight will be the least of our concerns!_

They cut off the connection, smothering it the best they could. It was ever present, but that didn’t mean Red couldn’t ignore it. They could ignore it like Lance had been forced to ignore theirs.

Their fiery cub tentatively pulled at their own bond, and Red melted. The worry was clear for their other cub, for Red. They owed him an explanation to their anger, but they would omit details that they had no right to tell.

Red would protect their new cub, just as they had their fiery cub. What to call him though? What to make him distinct? Red knew just the thing, something that summed up their cub perfectly, as perfectly as fiery described Keith.

 _Courageous._ Red whispered into Lance’s unconscious mind. _My courageous cub._


End file.
